Form Tracker: March 1st, 2013

Our weekly feature tracking the performance of Michigan players over two game segments.

Trey Burke: 7 (Last Week: 9.5)
Against Illinois, Trey Burke was as good as it gets — 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 8 assists and one turnover. On Wednesday in Michigan’s horrible loss on the road to Penn State, Burke was quite good — but he turned the ball over. Burke scored 18 points on 50 percent shooting but shot poorly from the 3-point line and notched six turnovers. That is the highest turnover total for Burke all season, and the first time since playing Ohio State on the road on January 13th that he’s had more than three.

Tim Hardaway Jr.: 7 (Last Week: 3)
Tim Hardaway Jr. has had a couple of nice all-around games in a row. The junior scored in double digits against Illinois and Penn State, while registering seven rebounds and three assists in both games. However, Hardaway’s 3-point shot is still somewhere roaming around Madison, Wisconsin. Hardaway hasn’t shot better than 30 percent from beyond the arc since Michigan’s match-up with the Badgers on February 9th.

Jordan Morgan: 6 (Last Week: 3)
It has been a relief for Michigan fans welcoming the injured Jordan Morgan back into the fold, though it’s clear he can’t be every answer to the team’s defensive woes. Against Illinois, Morgan was the defensive anchor and showed exactly what made him so subtly valuable pre-injury. Against Penn State, Morgan trapped on his hedge often but shouldn’t be blamed for Penn State’s offensive explosion — that was mostly on the Wolverines’ help defense off the trap. Also, Morgan had a great game against the Nittany Lions, statistically: 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and five rebounds (three offensive). Not bad at all.

Glenn Robinson III: 5 (Last Week: 5)
The old Glenn Robinson III seems to return from time to time but only for brief periods of time. He had a decent two-game stretch, though against Penn State the freshman was pretty ineffective. Eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, though he did grab six rebounds. One stat that’s a bit staggering is Robinson’s inability to hit a 3-point shot over the past month. He hasn’t made a basket from beyond the arc since Michigan played Ohio State on February 5th, and he hasn’t made more than one since the Purdue game on January 24th.

Spike Albrecht: 5 (Last Week: 2.5)
When Spike Albrecht makes an impact on a game, it is usually as understated as it is pivotal. Against Illinois, that held true: the freshman forced two turnovers in the first half against Illinois and also knocked down a 3-pointer when Michigan couldn’t find any offense. Against Penn State, Albrecht suffered an unfortunate turnover against the Nittany Lion zone — though he had an excellent look-away alley-oop pass to Tim Hardaway Jr.

Nik Stauskas: 4 (Last Week: 6)
His game against Ohio State in Columbus and the one on Sunday against Illinois are in a dead heat for the worst of Nik Stauskas’s young career. However, the freshman looked more aggressive against Penn State, finding his way to the basket a few times in the first half and knocking down half of his triples. Stauskas also pulled down eight rebounds and forced two steals, but turnovers and defensive lapses marred an otherwise productive day.

Jon Horford: 4.5 (Last Week: 3)
The redshirt sophomore actually had a fairly excellent game against Penn State, notching six points and four rebounds, while not missing a shot, in just 11 minutes. The key for Horford appears to be defensive improvement. When he plays poorly on that end of the floor, John Beilein does not hesitate to pull him — as he did against Illinois, when Horford only saw seven minutes.

Mitch McGary: 4 (Last Week: 4.5)
Michigan’s freshman big man went through a distinct phase of steady improvement over the majority of the Big Ten season, but since scoring 12 points against Wisconsin Mitch McGary hasn’t been close to double figures. McGary is capable of playing really well, and had a decent game against Illinois, but when he’s not making plays on the defensive end, he becomes little more than a liability on rotations.

Caris LeVert: 4 (Last Week: 3.5)
Caris LeVert had one of his best games of the season against Illinois — the freshman was a difference-maker on the offensive end, scoring eight points on just three shots and hitting two 3-pointers. Unfortunately, LeVert was ineffective against Penn State, failing to make a shot in 12 minutes of playing time.